- Source
- Thucydides. Historiae, Vol 1-2. Jones, Henry Stuart, editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1910. (1942 printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.86.1-6.86.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The Athenian envoy reminds the Siceliots that their original motive for inviting Athens was their fear of Syracuse, arguing that Syracuse, not the Athenian military presence, is the true threat to their independence.
καὶ ὅτῳ ταῦτα μὴ δοκεῖ, αὐτὸ τὸ ἔργον ἐλέγχει. τὸ γὰρ πρότερον ἡμᾶς ἐπηγάγεσθε οὐκ ἄλλον τινὰ προσείοντες φόβον ἤ, εἰ περιοψόμεθα ὑμᾶς ὑπὸ Συρακοσίοις γενέσθαι, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ κινδυνεύσομεν.1
And to whomsoever these things do not seem so, the reality itself refutes him. For formerly you brought us in, holding out no other fear than that, if we should allow you to come under the power of the Syracusans, we ourselves also would be in danger.
καὶ νῦν οὐ δίκαιον, ᾧπερ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἠξιοῦτε λόγῳ πείθειν, τῷ αὐτῷ ἀπιστεῖν, οὐδ’ ὅτι δυνάμει μείζονι πρὸς τὴν τῶνδε ἰσχὺν πάρεσμεν ὑποπτεύεσθαι, πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον τοῖσδε ἀπιστεῖν.
And now it is not just to distrust that very argument by which you deemed it right to persuade us, nor to suspect us because we are present with a greater force against the power of these men, but much rather is it just to distrust these men.
ἡμεῖς μέν γε οὔτε ἐμμεῖναι δυνατοὶ μὴ μεθ’ ὑμῶν, εἴ τε καὶ γενόμενοι κακοὶ κατεργασαίμεθα, ἀδύνατοι κατασχεῖν διὰ μῆκός τε πλοῦ καὶ ἀπορίᾳ φυλακῆς πόλεων μεγάλων καὶ τῇ παρασκευῇ ἠπειρωτίδων·2 οἵδε δὲ οὐ στρατοπέδῳ, πόλει δὲ μείζονι τῆς ἡμετέρας παρουσίας ἐποικοῦντες ὑμῖν αἰεί τε ἐπιβουλεύουσι καὶ ὅταν καιρὸν λάβωσιν ἑκάστου, οὐκ ἀνιᾶσιν (ἔδειξαν δὲ καὶ ἄλλα ἤδη καὶ τὰ ἐς Λεοντίνους), καὶ νῦν τολμῶσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ταῦτα κωλύοντας καὶ ἀνέχοντας τὴν Σικελίαν μέχρι τοῦδε μὴ ὑπ’ αὐτοὺς εἶναι παρακαλεῖν ὑμᾶς ὡς ἀναισθήτους.
For we, on our part, are unable even to remain without you, and even if, becoming traitors, we should conquer you, we would be unable to hold you down, both because of the length of the voyage and due to the difficulty of guarding great cities and their continental-style military preparations. But these men, dwelling near you not with a mere camp, but with a city greater than our present force, are always plotting against you, and whenever they find an opportunity for each thing, they do not let go (as they have already shown in other matters and especially in what concerns Leontini); and now they dare to summon you, as though you were senseless, against those who prevent these things and who have held Sicily up to this point from being under their sway.
πολὺ δὲ ἐπὶ ἀληθεστέραν γε σωτηρίαν ἡμεῖς ἀντιπαρακαλοῦμεν, δεόμενοι τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων ἀμφοτέροις μὴ προδιδόναι, νομίσαι δὲ τοῖσδε μὲν καὶ ἄνευ ξυμμάχων αἰεὶ ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἑτοίμην διὰ τὸ πλῆθος εἶναι ὁδόν, ὑμῖν δ’ οὐ πολλάκις παρασχήσειν3 μετὰ τοσῆσδε ἐπικουρίας ἀμύνασθαι· ἣν εἰ τῷ ὑπόπτῳ ἢ ἄπρακτον ἐάσετε ἀπελθεῖν ἢ καὶ σφαλεῖσαν, ἔτι βουλήσεσθε καὶ πολλοστὸν μόριον αὐτῆς ἰδεῖν, ὅτε οὐδὲν ἔτι περανεῖ παραγενόμενον ὑμῖν.
But we, on our part, issue a counter-summons to a much truer safety, requesting you not to betray the security that exists for both of us from each other, and to consider that for these men, even without allies, the way against you is always ready because of their numbers, whereas to you, the opportunity to defend yourselves with so great an auxiliary force will not often be presented. If, through suspicion, you allow this force either to depart without having accomplished anything or even to meet with disaster, you will yet wish to see even a tiny fraction of it, when its presence will no longer achieve anything for you.
- 6.86.1ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ κινδυνεύσομεν
The conjunction ὅτι introduces an appositional clause explaining the preceding noun φόβον (or the contents after ἤ), functioning as the apodosis to the conditional clause εἰ περιοψόμεθα... ('if we should allow...').
- 6.86.3τῇ παρασκευῇ ἠπειρωτίδων
ἠπειρωτίδων is the genitive plural of the feminine adjective ἠπειρῶτις ('continental' or 'of the mainland'), referring to the land-force military preparations of the Sicilian cities. It stands in contrast to the naval power of Athens and is presented as a reason why Athens cannot maintain remote control over them.
- 6.86.5παρασχήσειν
This is the future infinitive of the verb παρέχει used impersonally ('there will be an opportunity'), with its subject (such as ὁ καιρός, 'opportunity') omitted. It functions as an infinitive governed by νομίσαι ('to consider').